MA I – Die Dritte Waschung oder die Honigtaufe [MA I – The Third Ablution or the Baptism of Honey]

„I, man, I am dirty, and before I enter the sanctuary I must cleanse myself. The respect for the symbols and one’s own faith requires it.“

A classic, almost geometric picture structure. In the foreground we see Gabriel, nearly naked, at a moment when he is deluging himself with an amber-coloured liquid. He is standing on the stone slabs of the courtyard of the Convento de Cristo, below him a square folded blanket – the marked primal space. In front of him the instruments of his ablution: olive oil, milk, honey, water. Behind him a wall, which by its architecture almost forms a cross. The pilgrim’s clean shoes stand next to it.

The photograph is called Die Dritte Waschung oder die Honigtaufe [The Third Ablution or the Baptism of Honey] and shows the last of the three symbolic cleaning acts before Gabriel enters the interior of the Convento de Cristo. The elements used for these rituals, which point in their symbolic quality to the most diverse corners of global (cultural) history, are united in their quality of being arch images of purity and the immaculate.

The protagonist himself has closed his eyes, all his attention seems to be directed towards the inside. It is a strange moment; a movement that cannot be fixed seems to lead down through the
whole picture. Pathos and rest, activity and standstill, river and sea. Polarities intertwined.